By Rabbi Yosef Shemtov
The Importance of Humility and Careful Speech
In this week’s parashah, the Torah discusses the laws of inheritance. According to the Torah’s law, sons inherit their father’s estate. However, if a proper halachic will is written before one’s passing, the distribution of the estate can be arranged differently.
The parashah then tells the story of the daughters of Tzelofchad. Their father had passed away, and he left behind five daughters and no sons. They approached Moshe Rabbeinu and asked, “What will happen to our father’s portion in the Land of Israel? Why should our father’s name be lost simply because he had no son?” They argued that they should inherit their father’s portion.
The Torah tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu did not know the answer. He brought their question before Hashem, and Hashem answered that the daughters were correct—they would indeed inherit their father’s portion. The obvious question is: Why did Moshe Rabbeinu forget this halachah?
Rashi explains that years earlier, when Moshe established the judicial system, he instructed Bnei Yisrael that there should be different levels of courts. If one court did not know the answer, the case should be brought to a higher court, and if the higher courts still did not know the answer, they should bring the matter to Moshe himself.
Although Moshe Rabbeinu was the most humble person who ever lived, his statement could have sounded as if he was saying, “If no one knows the answer, come to me—I know everything.” Since it gave even the slightest appearance of pride, Hashem caused him to forget this particular halachah.
The lesson for us is profound. We must be extremely careful with our words. Many times we do not intend anything negative or arrogant, but other people may perceive our words differently. The Torah teaches us to speak with humility and sensitivity, always being mindful of how our words may be understood by others.